Rock Hard (Rock Kiss #2)(67)

Now he’d drawn a line in the sand beyond which she was not permitted to step.





26


CUPCAKES AND KISSES





AN HOUR LATER AND Gabriel was calm enough to know he’d f*cked up. Badly. He’d been so angry at Brian that he’d allowed it to spill over onto Charlotte. The fact he’d done it today of all days, when she needed him to be her rock, it made him an * of epic proportions.

“Goddammit.” Throwing down his pen, he got up and went to find her. She wasn’t at her desk or in the break room, but since her computer screen was on and showing a partial itinerary for a business trip he was taking later this month, she had to be nearby.

“Gabriel.” His chief operations officer waved him into his office when Gabriel went back out into the corridor to hunt Charlotte down. “You have ten minutes to talk over something?”

“Yeah.” He saw Charlotte the second he left the COO’s office. She was standing farther down the corridor with another personal assistant, the two of them concentrating on a tablet. From the frowns on their faces, he thought they were trying to figure something out.

Charlotte looked okay, but when she glanced toward him, that spark he loved was missing from her eyes. Turning toward her fellow PA as the other woman made a comment, she smiled… and it wasn’t his Ms. Baird’s smile, rather a ghost of it.

He’d done that.




CHARLOTTE RETURNED TO HER desk after helping the CFO’s personal assistant with an online meeting application, and found a fancy vanilla cupcake on her desk, complete with raspberry frosting and silver sprinkles. She stared at it. Gabriel had done this before, apologized to her with decadent treats, but it had always just been when he’d infuriated her. He’d never before hurt her.

“Charlotte.”

Swiveling in her chair, she found him in the doorway to his office. He looked so ragged that her heart hurt. “Yes?” she said; she cared too much for him to push him away when he was in pain.

“I’m sorry.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he blew out a breath. “I am angry at Brian and it pisses me off that I can’t let it go.”

Charlotte rose from her desk to go to him and they both stepped into his office, shutting the door behind them. “For better or worse,” she said gently, “he’s your blood. It’s an indelible connection.”

Gabriel walked to the windows behind his desk, his gaze on the city and on the water beyond. “I don’t want it to be—he has no claim on me.” Shaking his head, he folded his arms. “I can’t talk about this anymore, especially when I’m worried about you.”

It wasn’t the cold shutdown of before, simply a request for space. Charlotte had no problem with giving him that—emotional wounds this deep and complex didn’t get solved in a single conversation. What continued to worry her was what would’ve happened if he hadn’t made the first move? Would she have had the courage to push, to demand he trust her with his secrets?

“What did you decide?” Gabriel said, coming to stand in front of her, his hands on his hips.

Charlotte knew the imbalance between her and Gabriel remained a dangerous question mark over their relationship, but they had to solve this issue first. “I’m not going to let Richard turn me into a scared mouse hiding in its hole.”

Gabriel didn’t break the eye contact.

Wanting to touch him but not sure he’d accept it in his current dark mood, she carried on. “I’m also not going to be stupid.”

“I’ll organize security.”

“No.” When he scowled, she scowled back. “Let me finish.”

Folding his arms again, he stood there, an impenetrable wall.

“You’re right—your building is secure. If I move into it, it’ll take a lot of the stress out of the situation.” And it’d keep Gabriel’s attention on her, not on thinking up ways to permanently dispose of Richard.

Gabriel unfolded his arms, his features easing. “I’m glad you’ve seen sense.”

“I’m trying to be rational,” she said, folding her own arms. “When you say things like that, it makes me want to disagree with you just to teach you a lesson.”

“It’s a good thing you’re more evolved than I am.” The faint hint of a smile.

“Gabriel.” She battled the urge to stamp her foot. “I did a property search on your building. There’s a small apartment on a lower floor that’s available as a sublet at a price I can afford. I’m going to apply for it.” Not running, but being smart about her safety. “I can catch the shuttle in to work, and if anything happens, you’ll be nearby.”

Gabriel’s scowl had become darker with every word she spoke. “I own an enormous two-level penthouse, and you want to stay in a dinky downstairs place?”

“I have to do this on my terms.” She could see him gritting his teeth. Chancing a touch, she put her hand on his chest. “Try to understand.”

“I’ll go with you when you look at the apartment,” he said at last, the words ground out. “If there’s anything unsafe about it, you don’t stay there. Agreed?”

Charlotte nodded. “Agreed.”

“I need to kiss you.”